From the Ashes
by DaughterofDemeter123
Summary: When Eloise Springfield is saved from her status as a deleted character, she's ecstatic. But things are not alright, and something dark is happening to her creator's mind. Watch Ella as she joins forces with her fellow OCs in an effort to rescue their homes from a mysterious group of strangers.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: When Eloise Springfield is saved from her status as a deleted character, she's ****ecstatic. But things are not alright, and something dark is happening to her creator's mind. Watch Ella as she joins forces with her fellow OCs in an effort to rescue their homes from a mysterious group of strangers.**

**Note: It may make more sense if you looked at some of my previous stories.**

* * *

Ella sat at her desk and stared at the ceiling. She was tapping her knee, and every few seconds her eyes would flick over the sparsely furnished room. Eternity was taking a long time.

Ever since her fanfic had been deleted, she'd been cooped up in this little room, unable to do anything remotely interesting ever again. It wasn't like she could really be used again, what with the PJO fandom changing so dramatically over the years. Not to mention the fact that she was canonically dead in her author's other PJO fanfic, making it impossible for her to return. In other words, she was banished.

She was having trouble remembering any of her favorite song lyrics, too, and it was a bit of a problem, really. She was the daughter of one of the Nine Muses. Music was pretty much the only thing that kept her going back in her written days, and now even that was failing her.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light. Alarmed, Ella leapt to her feet. The light bounded off the sterile white walls, seemingly for the express purpose of attacking her eyed. She had to cover her face with her arm.

When the light finally subsided, she cautiously lowered her arm, only to see a person standing in the middle of the room.

The person was around the general age between 16 and 18. She had tanned skin, black hair, and a sour expression. The girl/woman looked at Ella. Ella looked at her. The stranger opened her mouth.

"You're Eloise Springfield?" She asked, crinkling her nose. "You're the oldest OC? You look just like Anna."

"Who-?" Ella was unable to finish her question, as the stranger had just gotten very close to her face. Her breath smelled faintly of tomatoes.

"Well," Rectified the stranger. "Not exactly like her. Her hair's more red than yours, and you have different eyes. Still, though."

Ella fidgeted uncomfortably. After three years of isolation, she had no idea how to handle this. The stranger continued to rattle on about how different she was from this "Anna" person, and standing very close to her.

"-not to mention how you died within days of reaching what was meant to be a safe place! I mean, seriously? I know you were 11, but seriously?"

The stranger stopped talking then, to catch her breath, and it was then Ella decided to try and get a word in edgewise.

"Who are you?"

The stranger frowned, and then slapped herself on the forehead.

"Crap, I'm an idiot- okay, whatever. I've been getting off-topic. My name is Sophie."

Ella nodded slowly. This was progress. "I'm Ella."

The newly identified Sophie rolled her eyes.

"Obviously," She harrumphed. "That's why I'm here. You're being re-used."

Suddenly, Ella couldn't breathe. She stared at Sophie incredulously. Sophie, on her part, looked grumpy.

"What for?" Ella asked, feeling lightheaded. "Is my story being re-written?"

"That piece of crap? No way." Sophie snorted rudely. "Three flames for a six chapter long story written by an eleven year old? That must have scarred her for life. No no no, you'd be lucky if she even referenced you in her profile."

"Then, what are you here for?" Ella demanded, her patience failing.

Sophie stared at her for a little while. She was uncharacteristically quiet.

"I'm taking you to the hub."

With that, she grabbed onto Ella's arm, none too gently. Ella barely had time to shriek in surprise before there was another flash of light, and a tingling sensation in her feet. When the light subsided, she was not in her room anymore.

* * *

The hub was a large place, fashioned to look like the interior of the creator's childhood library. It was a place where her original characters could interact with each other, regardless of the story they hailed from.

A few minor characters were milling around by the front desk, but they scattered once they saw a bright light from the young adults section.

Ella blinked rapidly. Her eyes watered, and her tongue itched. She raked over it with her teeth, and took in her surroundings. She was in a small room with one glass wall, filled with mostly empty bookshelves. Sophie was standing beside her, patting down her sweatshirt.

"Well," Said Sophie in a clipped tone. "Come on."

She began to stride out of the room. Ella followed her, looking around. The last time she'd been to the hub, it has looked very much like a school building. She wondered what else had changed while she was gone.

Sophie lead her to the entrance of the children section, and stopped abruptly. There was a girl standing in their path, somewhere around Ella's physical age. A large pair of fluffy white wings sprouted out her back.

"Is that her?" The girl asked Sophie, who seemed suddenly very shy.

"Oh, um, yes." Sophie said meekly. It was a complete turn-around from what she had been acting like before.

The girl with the wings stuck her hand out.

"Hi, I'm Lacy. You're Eloise? It's nice to actually meet you."

Ella shook her hand, and was surprised at how cold she was. "Hi."

"You've probably heard all about how you're being re-used from Sophie here, but we're having a meeting now." Lacy rolled her eyes. "It'll be nice to have one without Anna constantly laying claim to the seniority seat."

"The what?"

Back in her day, there hadn't been enough OC's to have a meeting of any sort. In fact, she had been the only main character around, there was no one to talk to outside of her fanfic. She had a few friends there, but they were canon characters, and therefore they had an entirely different hub to go to. It had been really lonely, and really boring.

But now, she found herself sitting on a plush dragon, apart of a circle of OCs.

A girl with pigtails was standing in the center of the circle, talking about an "alarming doughnut shortage in Below Zero". Another girl, also in pigtails, was nodding in agreement. A girl with choppy hair, wearing a Camp Half-Blood tee shirt, was rolling her eyes and muttering to herself. The only boy present was falling asleep; the woman next to him was polishing a broom.

"And now onto today's business! ! !" Exclaimed the girl in pigtails. Ella winced at the number of exclamation points.

"I heard that there have been problems happening in Distant. Like, the chapters aren't happening the right way? Ryo, report!"

A petite Asian girl stood up.

"My powers haven't been working, and my father has been really mean lately. He broke an egg on my head, and he's been finishing off all of the muffins before I can get downstairs. He's even used-"

Ryo fell silent, looking uncomfortable.

"What did do?" Urged the girl with pigtails.

"He used profanity. Actual profanity!"

Everyone gasped. Ella felt a little sick to her stomach. The very idea of a curse word made her uneasy.

"Since I don't have my powers, I keep getting assigned to the sidekick class, and that's _not_ the way my story goes!"

"That sounds serious," Said the woman with the broom. "Has this ever happened before, Anna?"

The pigtailed girl shook her head violently. "Not ever, since my story was put up."

Everyone in the group began to whisper among themselves. Ella looked around at them, these younger OCs. If she squinted very hard, she could recognize a few of them from before she'd been deleted.

"Everybody shut up!" Shouted Anna. "We have another topic!"

The OCs shut up.

"As you may know, we were recently given orders to bring back my predecessor, Eloise Springfield, back form deleted exile." She turned to Ella. "We don't know what the creator's planning for you, but whatever it is will be big. If the hub still looked like camp we could help you train, but it's been like this ever since she moved."

Anna fingered her watch, a dark look on her face. Ella blinked and it was gone. The other half-blood was back in full cheer mode.

"Okay everyone, I think that's enough for today's meeting. See you later~!"

Around her, everyone dispersed. Ella looked around for Sophie, but she seemed to have disappeared with the rest of the OC's. A hand clamped around her wrist. She whirled around, coming face to face with Anna.

Where as before she was all smiles, she now looked very serious- and a little scared, even?

"Come with me."

* * *

**That's a wrap for now. I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know if you'd like me to continue!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: I wonder where I'm going with this...**

* * *

"-and that is what's really happening. I haven't told anybody else." Anna put a comforting hand on Ella's shoulder. "It must be a lot to take in. Do you have any questions?"

Ella felt her ears go hot. She scanned the bathroom, trying to look anywhere but in the other girl's direction. As far as public restrooms go, it was nice. It had air freshener, and clean floors. It was painted a nice color, if you liked beige.

"Um... what was that part about the thing?" She finally asked.

"What thing? The thing about you not really being the oldest OC?"  
"No, I got that part. I mean the other thing."  
"The thing about how the oldest OC is a Mary-Sue of unlimited strength?"  
"No, but that is a scary thought. The other thing."

For a minute, all she got was a blank expression. Then, Anna pounded her fist into her palm. "Oh! You mean the thing where you're the only one that can stop her from warping all of the remaining stories beyond recognition, stealing the main character's abilities, and manipulating the creator into writing a story about her!"

"Yeah. That. How am I supposed to do that?" Ella nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. "I can't fight. I could never fight! I'm not even alive. I died in my story a long time _before_ it was deleted, and I barely got to spend any time in training."

Anna frowned, drawing her little blonde eyebrows together. It made a strange contrast to her obnoxious smiley-face jacket.

"Yeah, I remember. But you-"

She was suddenly cut off by a loud siren which Ella immediately recognized as a reader warning.

_"Reader approaching fanfic, My Bright Life. All characters report to your beginning stations. Repeat, reader approaching fanfic..."_

"Oh, cheeseballs!" Anna was hurriedly removing her watch. "I need to go."

"When will you be back?" Ella asked, following the other OC out of the bathroom and into the Café area.

"I don't know, my fic is pretty long!" Anna's sneakers slapped the linoleum as she made her way to the exit. "Could be awhile."

"What am I supposed to do?" Begged Ella. "I don't have any way of even finding the oldest OC!"

"You'll figure it out." They reached the door, where several minor OCs were waiting. "I'm sure you can do it. Just remember your past and keep your chin up! All it takes is a little magic, right?"

Anna beamed at her, waved, and dashed through the exit of the hub. The minor characters followed her in, and soon, Ella found herself alone.

* * *

_It began slithering toward me, it's eyes practically glowing with hate. I was too scared to scream, too scared to run, too scared to defend myself. I was paralyzed in my fear. Everything went in slow motion. The snake was inching it's way toward me, slowly opening it's mouth. I think either Lacy or Natalie called out my name, I couldn't be sure. Tammy jumped in front of me, her sword in her hand. She swung it downward right on the monster's green, snakey head..._

_Nothing happened._

_The snake made a few hisses that sounded like chuckles, before slamming it's head into Tammy's stomach. She practically flew to the side, screaming. This wasn't right. What was going on?_

_"Farewell, golden sssspawn." Crowed the King of Snakes. He opened his mouth and struck._

_I screamed. The pain was awful, worse than anything I'd ever felt. Like fire flowing __through my veins. My vision became splotchy and dark. My last thought was one of panic._

_'The story doesn't end this way!"_

* * *

As it turned out, the hub had gotten very very boring in the years Ella had been banished.

In her day, the hub had been amazing. It had been colorful mishmash of the creator's thoughts, dreams, and ideas. Most often, it had been Neverland. Occasionally, it had been underwater, with beautiful coral reefs and a rainbow of fish. Just before The Daughter of Music was taken down, when the creator was working on a new story, it had been Camp Halfblood.

She sat at a table in the café, anxiously tapping her fingers. Every-so-often, she would see OCs going in and out of their stories. Sometimes they'd wave, or introduce themselves. Most of them didn't even notice her, but she couldn't fault them for that.

Almost every OC she'd seen that day had looked pale, fidgety and exhausted. The creator, from what she'd gathered, had not kept her promises of finishing all of her stories.

One OC, a rare male ("Call me Genovia!") had explained that almost none of the stories were of the same fandom anymore either.

"It's a little hard to connect with people," Genovia looked mournfully the packet of fruit chews he'd somehow managed to nab from the vending machine by the water fountain. "Sort of like talking to someone from a whole different planet."

He sighed, carelessly tossing the packet over his shoulder. "Still no pear flavor. What a crime! I should have those banned in my country."

Ella promptly excused herself. She'd already heard more than enough about his 'country', and wasn't in the mood to listen in on another speech. Each word seemed to suck the life out of her. OCs didn't need to sleep when they were off-duty, but just thinking about Genovia the country was enough to make her yawn.

There weren't a lot of places to go in the hub, not in it's current form. Every corner she looked in was occupied, and she did not feel up to another conversation. She felt tired, and it was silly! She hadn't done a day's work in years. It was a little bit confusing. Maybe the isolation had turned her into an introvert. She didn't remember ever being this shy before.

Abruptly, she stopped walking. This turned out to be a mistake, as there was someone walking along behind her. That someone bumped into her, sending her sprawling painfully onto her stomach.

She looked up. All she could see was a mass of orange. Briefly, Ella wondered if it was another PJO OC. Her vision cleared a little more. The person who had knocked her over was wearing an orange jumpsuit. Prisoner's wear.

"Woopsie daisy!" The woman in the orange jumpsuit giggled in a thick accent. "It seems I have made a mistake. Where are my manners? Shame on you, Yue. Such a cluttered brain!" The woman laughed hysterically. It was very unnerving, especially when Ella noticed the scar along the woman's jaw.

Ella stood up. The woman looked a little familiar, but didn't exactly seem like the best person to get involved with. Maybe if she could just inch away...

"Ha!" A hand slammed down on her shoulder. The convict woman was glaring at her, a sneer on her face. "You think you go somewhere? Leave Yue behind? Learn some manners, child!" The woman looked furious. Her eyes literally began to glow with rage. "I shall be your teacher!"

Ella's meager training and convenient demigod instincts kicked in just in time for her to dodge two laser beams. _Laser beams._

"Woah!" She squeaked, staring at the twin scorch marks in the carpet. "Powers?"

Normally, a woman with laser vision would be small potatoes. Anything was possible when it came to fiction. There had been a scene in Ella's own story where she'd screamed high pitched enough to kill something, and did.

But being in the hub neutralized any superhuman abilities any of the OCs might've had. It was for the protection of both the characters and the stories themselves, because if an OC died at any place or any time that wasn't specified by their fanfic, they stayed dead until the next time the author read their story. Yue seemed to have not gotten the memo though, because she didn't stop attacking.

"Stop that!" Shrieked Ella, ducking away from another pair of laser beams. "What are you doing?"

Yue opened her mouth, probably to say something mad. But before she could get even a single word out, her legs were kicked out from under her.

The super villain tumbled to the ground, the glow coming from her eyes shutting off as she fell. Her chin crashed hard into one of the empty metal bookshelves. It was a terrible fall. She might not have gotten up at all, even without the aid of the swift kick to the back of her head, courtesy of her attacker.

"Oh my God, that went so much better than I was expecting!" Cheered the generic looking teenage boy, nudging Yue with his foot. "I totally didn't think this was going to work, this is awesome. Are you okay?"

* * *

**Ah, good. Another satisfactory chapter finished.**


End file.
